Travelogue of a Wandering Sewist – Inspiration Time with Diane Ericson

While on our road trip from Sonoma, CA to Seattle, WA I had the great privilege to make two “sewing nerd” stops. I know you understand my enthusiasm because if you are reading this you are probably a sewing nerd too. ASG is full of people like us! Yea!

My first stop was in downtown Ashland, OR at Diane Ericson’s studio. It is a small studio space but it is filled with a huge creative vibe. Diane was so generous, spending an hour talking with me about her creative process. I loved how she was able to ask about my typical process, hear my very “planned” approach and suggest ideas for breaking out into a more creative, free-flowing thought process.

Here were a few of her suggestions:

Play with stenciling a few pieces of fabric. Then piece them together to create the fabric for your garment.

If you want to avoid concern about grainline, connect smaller pieces.

Drape your stenciled fabric (pieced or unpieced) over various parts of your body, folding it, gathering it, shaping it like a collar, etc. Sometimes a beautiful collar or cuff appears from a section of your fabric that cuts through your stencils in an unexpected way.

One way to design the finished outcome is to prepare a piece of fabric with various stencil designs, cut them out and play with various placement on a finished garment. Once you find what you like, repeat them on the garment itself. Or applique your stencil on the garment, perhaps leaving raw edges for added interest.

Sometimes you can add interest by creating fabric folds that emulate some part of your stencil design.